Detroit Free Press Food Writer

Make Baked Egg with Lobster and Mushroom Filling for an elegant brunch or lunch. / Kathleen Galligan/Detroit Free Press

Make Baked Egg with Lobster and Mushroom Filling for an elegant brunch or lunch. / Susan Selasky/Detroit Free Press

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Sauté some wild mushrooms with onion and garlic. Stir in cooked lobster meat, cream and fresh herbs. Then top with a quail egg and bake.

The result is a truly impressive egg dish.

Reva Constantine, executive chef of the Great Lakes Culinary Center, recently prepared that dish for a chefs association meeting at the Southfield center. (The state-of-the-art facility is the new home of the Free Press Test Kitchen, where I’ll be testing recipes, among other things.) Her culinary creation was phenomenal, and worthy of any special-occasion brunch, lunch or dinner.

Considered a delicacy, quail eggs are a highlight of this dish. They have pretty speckled shells and are smaller than chicken eggs but have a higher yolk-to-white ratio. Their nutritional value is similar to chicken eggs and the flavor about the same — perhaps a tad richer. You can find quail eggs at some specialty stores and some farmers markets. For example, a package of 18 sells for $12 at Plum Market in West Bloomfield.

But if you can’t find quail eggs, just use small chicken eggs as we did.

The filling in today’s recipe is incredible and features lobster. Meat from two tails, about 5 ounces each, should suffice. Though you can add more if you love lobster like I do. The easiest way to cook lobster tails is to steam them for about 8 minutes. Remove them from the steamer and let them cool before removing the meat from the shell.

Other stars of the dish are mushrooms (use morels, chanterelles or your favorite variety) and ramps. If you’re not familiar with ramps, they grow in the wild and resemble green onions in length. (They’re in season now through June.) Ramps have a white bulb root end that thins to a slender purple-tinged stem with broader green leaves.

Ramps’ flavor is best described as a spicy cross between onions and garlic. Their broad leaves are milder in flavor than their bulbous end. Though sometimes referred to as wild leeks, ramps have a stronger flavor. You can use them raw or cooked and in most dishes where leeks or green onions are called for.

Look for ramps at specialty grocery stores like Papa Joe’s Gourmet Market & Catering in Birmingham. They’re pricey at about $17.95 a pound. When buying, choose ramps with bright green leaves that show no signs of yellowing. To keep them fresh, wrap them loosely together in damp paper towels and place in a sealable bag, squeezing out the air. They should keep about a week in the refrigerator. Like leeks, ramps usually have some dirt on the bulbs. Be sure to rinse them and trim the root end just before serving.

In today’s recipe, you can substitute the ramps with spring onions — the ones with the more bulbous ends — or a green like baby spinach, sautéed until wilted.

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté about 1 minute or until just fragrant. Add the mushrooms and shallot and sauté until the mushrooms are tender and caramelized, about 10 minutes. Stir in the ramps or baby spinach and sauté until wilted.

Pour in the white wine to deglaze the pan. Allow the wine to evaporate. Add cream and thyme. Reduce until thick, add Parmesan cheese and then stir in lobster. Season with salt and pepper.

(At this point, you can cool the mixture, cover and chill it until ready to bake the eggs.)

To bake the eggs. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Have ready six 4-ounce ramekins, placing them on a sided baking sheet.

Evenly divide the lobster mixture between the ramekins.

Crack an egg on top of the mixture. Transfer to the oven and bake until the egg is set to the desired consistency, about 10 to 15 minutes will set the whites and still yield a runny yolk. You can place it under the broiler if you like, but be careful that you are using ramekins that are safe for broiler use.

Remove from oven and set individual ramekins on a serving plate. Garnish with a sprig of thyme. As an option, serve with a mixed greens salad, dressed lightly with an herb vinaigrette.

Adapted from chef Reva Constantine of the Great Lake Culinary Center in Southfield and tested by Susan Selasky for the Free Press Test Kitchen.